By Jennifer McDougall
It is essential to be visible on social media in any business. It is also vital to ensure that your brand has a consistent presence across all platforms. Social media has become popular for businesses because people can use it to communicate with each other. Still, it has also become a source of information about companies and their products or services. You want your target audience to be able to find you when they search for information on these platforms, so make sure you have chosen the right ones for your business.
Define your target audience.
The first step to establishing an effective social media presence is to define your target audience. You can’t know what your audience wants if you don’t know who they are and what they value. So, before starting with any of these strategies, take some time to reflect on this question: Who am I talking to?
Once you’ve answered this question for yourself, think about how it will affect your content strategy. For example, are particular groups within the population with specific needs?
Make sure there is consistency across all of your social media platforms.
Consistency is vital when it comes to social media branding. You want to ensure that your brand is the same across all platforms so that viewers can recognize and follow you on other sites. Therefore, you should use the same colors, fonts, profile pictures, and descriptions on your profiles. This will help build a stronger brand image and make it easy for people to find you on different sites. To keep things consistent across all platforms:
- Use the same profile picture on each account (the one that has “on” written above it)
- Make sure your links lead back to one website or blog
- Use the same background photo
Interact!
This is where you’ll get the most bang for your buck. Interacting with your audience can be as simple as responding to their questions and comments or getting them involved in contests or polls. For example, a bakery might ask followers to submit photos of their favorite desserts—the winner gets a free cake! Or, if you own an online store, ask followers what products they’d like to see added to the site next month. You’ll be surprised at how many loyal customers will chime in with suggestions, especially if they feel part of a community or family (see below).
Keep up with what is trending, and get in on the conversation.
The first step to getting your brand seen on social media is to keep up with what is trending. Several tools can help you do this, including:
- Trendspottr (http://www.trendspotter.com/)
- Hashtracking (https://hashtracking.com/)
- BuzzSumo (https://buzzsumo.com/), which allows you to search for tags and content related to trending topics within their database of millions of articles, blog posts, and social media posts
Use a hashtag research tool to find relevant hashtags to help people find your brand.
To do this, I recommend using tools like Tagboard or hashtags.org. If you’re unfamiliar with them, these sites let you search for any keyword and then show you what other users are talking about by looking at all the hashtags they’ve used in their posts on social media. From there, it’s easy to see which hashtags are most popular and should be avoided (too many competitors already use them), as well as those that are more niche but still have the potential for your brand (you might be surprised at how many people post about ice cream on Instagram!).
Social media can be overwhelming, but with a little effort, you can use it to promote your brand and products.
Social media can be overwhelming, but with a little effort, you can use it to promote your brand and products.
There are a lot of options when it comes to social media. You can choose from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and even Snapchat. The best way to decide what platforms are right for your business is by looking at your audience’s preferences. For example, if they use Facebook more than any other platform, that might be the best place to start promoting yourself online.
Hire a Social Media Manager
Hiring a social media manager is the easiest and most cost-effective way to grow your brand on social media. But, if you’re not sure where to start, here are some pointers:
- Social media managers are experts who can help you manage content, generate leads, and optimize your marketing strategy across multiple platforms.
- Ask for referrals from colleagues or friends who have hired in-house or outsourced professionals (and if they had positive experiences). You may also want to Google “social media marketing agency + [your city/state].” This will give you a list of agencies who specialize in social media management with offices near where you live or work—and contact information so that you can reach out directly if necessary!
- Look at Upwork—it’s like LinkedIn, but there are also more opportunities because it has freelancers and regular employees looking for jobs worldwide. It’s free too until later this month when there will be an annual fee starting next year, after which point we’ll decide whether we need it anymore… but until then, enjoy being able to keep track of all those messages.
- Send me an email from this website and tell me about your business and marketing goals so I can customize a plan for you and deliver a free quote on my social media services.
Conclusion
Social media can be overwhelming, but with a little effort, you can use it to promote your brand and products. The key is to get consistent with your content on all your platforms—and make sure that each has some unique content. Then you have an opportunity to interact with other people in the community and join in on trends that are relevant to what you do. Finally, don’t forget about hashtags! They are an excellent way for people who aren’t yet following you on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok to learn more about who you are and what you offer.